Item number: A3530

Year: AD 1911-1920

Material: Bronze

Size: 24.4 x 24.0 x 1.4 mm

Weight: 6.1 g

Manufactured by: Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

This is a copper coin denominated as fals, struck by the Emirate of Bukhara in Central Asia between AD 1911 and 1920. For most of this period, one gold tilla was equivalent to 24 to 28 silver tenga, and one silver tenga was equal to ten fulus.

On the obverse, the upper inscription reads “بخارا” (Bukhārā), the Persian form of “Bukhara.” Beneath a five-petalled floral ornament, the central inscription reads “ضرب” (zarb), meaning “struck at.” The lower part, where the Hijri year of issue would normally be inscribed, is too effaced to be legible. The inscription is enclosed within a double ring, outside which appears a continuous decorative band of alternating “T” and inverted “T” motifs.

On the reverse, the upper inscription reads “تنکه” (tenga), indicating the currency system. The central inscription is effaced, but the surviving initial suggests “سه” (se), denoting the value “3.” The lower inscription reads “فلوس” (fulūs), the plural of fals. The inscription is enclosed within a single ring, surrounded, as on the obverse, by a continuous band of “T” and inverted “T” motifs. The simultaneous use of both tenga and fals indicated, within Bukhara’s multi-currency circulation, the monetary system and unit of exchange. It also had the effect, in the midst of monetary crisis, of stabilising the silver currency by reference to the relatively stable value of copper.

The word tenga in Turkic languages often signifies a balance, scale, or unit of weight and measure. Its etymology may derive from the Chinese or Mongolian “等” (deng), meaning “equal.” As a currency, it may also be connected to the small silver coin tangka of the Indian subcontinent, first issued by the Delhi Sultanate in the thirteenth century, which became familiar throughout Central Asia through the expansion of Islam. Initially struck in copper, its exchange ratio against silver or gold was fixed by law; later, amid political and military turmoil, it came to be struck mainly in silver. In Central Asia, from the time of the Bukharan khanate, the silver tenga served as the principal circulating currency, supplemented by copper fils.

The term fals ultimately derives from the Roman coin follis, originally a high-denomination bronze coin, at first even silver-washed, which gradually depreciated. Transmitted through the Byzantine Empire into the Arab world, it became fals, usually referring to small bronze coins. In different Islamic states, the name appeared in forms such as fils, falus, or pul.

The Emirate of Bukhara was founded in AD 1785, when Shah Murad, a powerful leader of the Manghit tribe of Turkic origin, deposed the Astrakhanid dynasty, whose lineage claimed descent from Chinggis Khan, and established his capital at Bukhara. As Shah Murad did not belong to the Chinggisid golden lineage, he could not assume the title of khan, but only that of emir. Thus the Bukharan khanate was transformed into the Bukharan emirate.

By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the emirate faced the relentless expansion of the Russian Empire in Central Asia. In AD 1868, after repeated defeats, Bukhara became a Russian protectorate. From the 1890s, Russia gradually abolished local currencies in the Governor-Generalship of Turkestan, imposing the Russian rouble, primarily in paper form. The circulation of the Bukharan tenga contracted sharply. At the same time, from the 1870s onward, the adoption of the gold standard by major industrial powers caused a fall in silver prices. These two developments together brought about a monetary and financial crisis in Bukhara, which Russia exploited to prohibit the minting of Bukharan silver tenga.

During the First World War, the financial instability of the Russian Empire, combined with the dominance of the rouble, further undermined the Bukharan monetary system. The result, visible in its coinage, was a succession of fluctuating denominations, metals, and weights. In AD 1917, during the turmoil of the Russian October Revolution, the Emirate of Bukhara briefly regained independence. In AD 1920, however, facing the advance of the Red Army, the last emir, Muhammad Alim Khan, fled into neighbouring Afghanistan, bringing the emirate to an end. The newly established Bukharan People’s Soviet Republic adopted Soviet paper money as its principal currency, but until as late as 1925, metal coinage of earlier issues still circulated widely in Bukhara and could even be used for tax payments.

物件編號: A3530

年代: 公元 1911-1920 年

材質: 青銅

尺寸: 24.4 x 24.0 x 1.4 mm

重量: 6.1 g

製造地: 布哈拉，烏茲別克

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一枚公元1911至1920年間，立國於中亞的布哈拉酋長國鑄造之法爾銅幣。在大多數時間，1金提拉等於24至28銀堅戈，1銀堅戈等於10法爾。

錢幣正面上方錢文為「بخارا」(Bukhārā)，即波斯文「布哈拉」。五瓣花飾以下，中間部分錢文「ضرب」(zarb)，意即「由…鑄造」。下方原應有回曆紀年以標示發行年，惜因文字漫漶無從辨識。錢文外以雙層環圍繞，其外以「T」與「倒T」型紋樣，密鋪為連續圖案環繞。

錢幣背面上方錢文為「تنکه」(tenga)，即「堅戈」，標明貨幣體系。中間錢文漫漶，但依字首辨識，應為「سه」(se)，即幣值「3」。下方錢文為「فلوس」(fulūs)，即幣名「法爾 (Fals)」的複數型。錢文外以單環圍繞，其外與正面幣圖相同，以「T」與「倒T」型紋樣，密鋪為連續圖案環繞。同時標註「堅戈」與「法爾」，除了在多元並行的布哈拉流通貨幣中，標明幣制與匯兌單位，同時還有在貨幣危機中，借勾兌相對穩定的銅價來穩定銀幣幣制的效果。

「堅戈」(tenga)於突厥語系中多表示天秤、平衡，或某種計量、計重單位。語源可能來自漢語、蒙語中的「等」(deng)，為相等之意。作為貨幣，亦可能源於流通於印度次大陸的小面額銀幣「唐卡」(tangka)，由德里蘇丹國於公元十三世紀時創用，經穆斯林的擴張而為中亞地區所熟悉。最初為銅質，以法律規定對銀或金的兌換比例，後隨著政治與軍事的混亂，逐漸改為以銀為主。在中亞地區，自布哈拉汗國時期，銀堅戈便是主要的流通貨幣，輔以銅費爾。

「法爾」(fals)則源自羅馬帝國的貨幣「福利斯」(follis)，原為大面額銅幣，最初甚至有包銀。隨後逐漸貶值。後經東羅馬帝國傳入阿拉伯帝國，成為「法爾」(fals)，通常為小面額銅幣。在不同國家，可能還有「費爾」(fils)、「法盧斯」(falus)、「普爾」(pul)等變體幣名。

布哈拉酋長國是公元1785年，出身突厥部落的曼吉特部強人：沙阿·穆拉德罷黜血統能上溯至成吉思汗的阿斯特拉罕王朝後，以布哈拉為首都建國。由於並非出身於蒙古黃金家族，沙阿·穆拉德不得自稱為可汗，僅能擁有埃米爾的頭銜。自此布哈拉汗國改制為布哈拉酋長國。

不過進入公元19世紀中葉，面對沙俄對中亞地區的步步擴張。先是在公元1868年，布哈拉酋長國在多次兵敗後，淪為沙俄的保護國。公元1890年代起，沙俄逐漸在突厥斯坦總督區廢止當地的貨幣，改行用以紙鈔為主的俄羅斯盧布。原本廣泛流通的布哈拉堅戈，流通範圍驟減。加以公元1870年代起，世界各主要工業國採行金本位制，白銀價格下跌。二者共同造成了布哈拉的貨幣金融危機，沙俄也借此干涉，禁止了布哈拉銀堅戈的製造。第一次世界大戰期間，俄羅斯帝國的金融混亂也因盧布的強勢影響而使布哈拉幣制動盪，反映到錢幣上便是面額大小、幣材與重量的波動與混亂。公元1917年，利用沙俄十月革命的混亂之際，布哈拉酋長國短暫恢復獨立。但在公元1920年，面對蘇聯紅軍的攻勢，末代埃米爾：穆罕默德·阿利姆汗流亡至鄰國阿富汗，宣告布哈拉酋長國的覆滅。新建的布哈拉人民蘇維埃國以蘇聯紙幣為主要流通貨幣，但截至1925年，中亞各國的金屬貨幣仍在布哈拉廣泛流通，甚至可用於納稅。